The present invention relates to polymer films, their assembly, and their controlled destruction.
Polymer films find wide-ranging uses, from non-linear optics to electronic coatings. One way to produce polymer films is through self-assembly of the films, layer-by-layer. This self-assembly relies on electrostatic charge, of alternating sign, in each layer; charges of opposite sign in each layer attract, directing the self-assembly process. The layers may be build up from a solution, and in the assembly process, molecules may become trapped between the layers.
It would be desirable to destroy the polymer films in a controlled fashion, to release the molecules trapped between the layers. Molecules, such as drugs or dyes, could be trapped in the polymer films during the assembly process, and then released during controlled destruction of the polymer films. However, the layers of known self-assembled polymer films contain alternating charge, and therefore any controlled method of destruction of these films would require eliminating or reducing charge on some or all of the layers, in order to overcome the electrostatic attraction that holds the layers together, and to do so is not practical.